It’s important to thank your volunteers throughout the year. Volunteers help your association get even more done, and thanking them for their time and effort helps to increase volunteer and member retention, improving your overall volunteer program. While a simple “thank you” is always a great start, meaningful appreciation goes beyond words.
To keep your volunteers engaged and motivated, it’s essential to recognize their contributions thoughtfully. From personalized thank-you messages to providing the right tools for success, you can enhance your volunteer appreciation strategy in many ways.
As we approach National Volunteer Week (April 20-26, 2025), it’s a great opportunity to elevate your volunteer appreciation strategy. Read our blog for effective strategies to advance the celebration of volunteers and their impact on your association during this volunteer-focused time and beyond!
How do you show volunteer appreciation at your association?
Thanking your volunteers always starts with saying “thank you.” However, it’s about more than just that.
Demonstrating volunteer appreciation should be done in multiple ways – from heart-felt and personalized volunteer thank you notes to publicly expressing gratitude to your volunteers. You should also consider providing tools that make volunteer work more efficient and effective for your members.
7 steps to take volunteer appreciation to the next level
Here are seven great ways to go beyond basic volunteer appreciation to truly say thank you in meaningful ways:
1. Elevate your volunteer “thank you” cards
Level up how you show volunteer appreciation throughout the year. Here’s how:
- Send personal thank you emails (or handwritten notes)
Go beyond sending a generic “thanks” email to all your volunteers by personalizing a message to each one. Recognize the value of each volunteer’s contribution by sending an email or handwritten note specific about the role and/or impact that the volunteer made. - Pick up the phone
How often do people take the time to pick up the phone to say “thank you” these days? Yes, it takes time, especially when you have many volunteers. But it can go a long way toward letting your volunteers know you genuinely appreciate their time. It can also be an excellent opportunity to get feedback (more on that later). - Give public shout-outs
Publicly thank your volunteers in your member newsletter, via social media, on your website, and during events. Call out specific volunteers who have done exceptional work, and thank your entire pool of volunteers by listing how many hours they’ve donated and what they’ve helped your organization accomplish. These public kudos recognize your current volunteers and have the added benefit of encouraging others to join in.
2. Help your volunteer chapter leaders succeed
Your volunteer chapter leaders can always use a hand. Maybe their chapter is just starting out, or perhaps they have a chapter with a small membership that needs to grow. Or maybe they have their hands full with a large membership base. With the right tools, you can better serve them all.
For example, NetForum’s chapter portal functionality allows you to give your chapters easy-to-use tools to help them manage:
- Memberships and member rosters
- Events
- Committees
- Documents
- Membership reports
When you give volunteer chapter leaders the necessary tools to increase and manage memberships, you can reduce their administrative burden, giving them a more satisfying volunteer experience.
3. Provide a connected committee volunteer experience
Committee volunteers are more likely to feel appreciated and volunteer again if they have a smooth experience from start to finish. By providing committee volunteers with a well-managed experience, you can help ensure your committee members work efficiently and effectively – ultimately showing that you appreciate their time and talents.
When you use the NetForum committee management functionality, you can do the following:
- Manage and track committees, subcommittees, and task forces
- Track individual committee member participation, including the history of previous committee members and the dates they served
- Publish and distribute committee minutes and documents to keep committee members connected and informed
4. Make events easier for volunteers to manage
Many of your volunteer opportunities involve helping at your association’s events. Nothing can be more frustrating to volunteers than not having the tools they need to do their jobs well. Show your volunteers that you care by giving them the tools to make event management easier.
With NetForum AMS, you can leverage event and exhibit management tools to empower your volunteers and staff to manage event details more easily.
For example, you and your volunteers can:
- Easily track registration payments, cancellations, and refunds
- View room setup reports that include meeting times, room names, attendance numbers, and other details
- Create and track exhibitors’ booth locations, checklists, contract details, and special requests
5. Offer members targeted volunteer opportunities
The ASAE Research Foundation found that 54% of volunteers were very likely to remain volunteers for their organization, and 62% would recommend volunteering to a friend or colleague. Most volunteers are satisfied with their current volunteer programs. However, 31% of non-volunteers hadn’t volunteered because no one had asked.
This research points to an opportunity to deliver more satisfying member experiences by encouraging more members to volunteer. And with the right tools, you can. When you choose to leverage membership engagement scoring functionality called A-Score, you can identify valuable trends to engage more effectively with specific groups of members.
For instance, NetForum A-Score™ can help you identify engagement patterns among groups of member volunteers and then send them targeted and personalized communications to get them involved with specific volunteer opportunities that align with their interests and preferences.
Your member volunteers will appreciate the opportunity to serve in ways that interest them most.
6. Ask for volunteer feedback
It’s good practice to ask your volunteers for feedback throughout the year. Consider sending a short annual survey or asking for feedback in phone calls with your volunteers. This approach helps to reinforce the idea that you appreciate your volunteers’ work for your organization and are listening to them to improve their experience with your organization.
Here are a few questions to ask your volunteers to gain valuable feedback:
- What is our organization doing well?
Prompt volunteers to think about their entire volunteer experience – from sign-up and orientation to training and support – and ask what aspects were the most helpful and enjoyable. - What are the most challenging/most rewarding aspects of volunteering?
Make sure your volunteers understand that by providing this type of candid feedback, they are helping your organization improve future volunteer opportunities - What type(s) of volunteer opportunities would they like to do but have never been asked?
Ask your volunteers if there are any types of opportunities that would interest them that they haven’t been invited to do yet.
7. Make thanking volunteers easier on your staff
When you have a lot of volunteers to thank, some of the approaches in this article might seem tough to fit into the schedule year-round. But there are a few things you can do to make it easier.
As your staff take time to thank your volunteers, here are three tips to reduce their workload:
- Spread out emails, notes, and phone calls through each week in between meetings and daily tasks.
- Ask multiple people in your organization, including board members, to help. Be sure to thank your board members for their service, too!
- Segment your volunteer list by the number of hours they’ve contributed or their impact over the past year; devote more “thank you” time to those who have donated more.
Learn more volunteer appreciation strategies
Volunteer appreciation goes beyond just saying “thank you”—it’s about demonstrating genuine gratitude in meaningful ways. By personalizing your acknowledgments, offering public recognition, and providing the right tools to make volunteering easier, you create an environment where volunteers feel valued and motivated to stay engaged.
Taking volunteer appreciation to the next level isn’t just about recognition; it’s about fostering a culture of appreciation that strengthens your association. When volunteers feel seen, heard, and supported, they’re more likely to stay involved and inspire others to contribute.
